The Cupboard
Fenugreek
In coming issues this section of the magazine will focus on providing information on exotic spices and uses for them. This month’s issue will highlight Fenugreek which is one of my favorite seasoning when preparing Ethiopian dishes. Fenugreek is a wonderful plant that can be used fresh or dried for cooking or as an herb for various medicinal purposes*. It is also used as a vegetable when the leaves are cooked fresh once they are matured or can be used when young as micro greens for salads.
The distinctive cuboid-shaped, yellow-to-amber coloured fenugreek seeds are frequently used in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. The seeds are used in the preparation of pickles, vegetable dishes, daals, and spice mixes, such as panch phoron and sambar powder. Fenugreek seeds are used both whole and in powdered form and are often roasted to reduce their bitterness and enhance their flavor.
Fenugreek is also used as a vegetable. Fresh fenugreek leaves are an ingredient in some Indian curries. The sprouted seeds and microgreens are used in salads. When harvested as microgreens, fenugreek is known as Samudra Methi in Maharashtra, especially in and around Mumbai, where it is often grown near the sea in the sandy tracts, hence the name Samudra, which means "ocean" in Sanskrit. Samudra Methi is also grown in dry river beds in the Gangetic plains. When sold as a vegetable in India, the young plants are harvested with their roots still attached. Any remaining soil is washed off and they are then sold in small bundles in the markets and bazaars to extend their shelf life.
In Persian cuisine Fenugreek leaves are used and called shanbalile. It is the key ingredient and one of several greens incorporated into ghormeh sabzi, often said to be the Iranian national dish.
Fenugreek is used in Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine. The word for fenugreek in Amharic is abesh, or abish, and the seed is used in Ethiopia as a natural herbal medicine in the treatment of diabetes.
Yemenite Jews following the interpretation of Rabbi Salomon Isaacides, Rashi of Talmud, believe fenugreek, which they call hilbeh, hilba, helba, or halba is the Talmudic Rubia. They use fenugreek to produce a sauce also called hilbeh, reminiscent of curry. It is consumed daily but ceremoniously during the meal of the first and/or second night of Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year).
Resource & Reference — Wikipedia
*References made in this article for medicinal treatments are for informational purposes ONLY and are not to be construed as offering medical advice to readers. If you are seeking medical advice, please consult with your physician who can best advise you for treatment.